Werewolves in the Park
by WhisperedWords12
Summary: One Shot. Derek's point of view when they first meet Liam and Ramon. I did my homework, so it should be pretty good. Please Read&Review. :


I don't own Darkest Powers.

I pushed Chloe, urging her to move _now_. She sprinted across the park, her short legs carrying her as fast as they could in her tired state. I kept behind her, making sure he couldn't get us from behind. Because, that's what he was after all, a werewolf. Even if I've never met one besides myself before, I could tell instinctively. The smell, not human, but not really wolf.

All of a sudden, another smell hit me. Not _he_, I thought, _they_. Another werewolf. I hadn't thought of the possibility of two through the haze of panic, telling me to keep Chloe safe. "Chloe!" I called after her.

There was no time to explain. The other werewolf was too close. I grabbed her shoulders, pulling her back to me.

The other werewolf had been down wind were I couldn't smell him. Smart. Make me panic when I smell one, not expecting another. They came from both angles, giving me nowhere to go but back, against a play set. I looked back as I felt the cool plastic against my back. There was nowhere to go. Panic pulsed through me, then anger. Extreme anger that they had put me and Chloe into this position, and then anger at myself for not paying attention.

The first wore a plaid shirt, jacket and boot. His blond hair down to his collar. His body was lean, but not to be mistaken for weak. Dad had told me that just because a werewolf wasn't bulky like me, didn't mean he couldn't be dangerous. But we are dangerous. All of us.

The second had dark hair, shorter then the other, and bulkier. Both men didn't look like they belong in a park. They looked just like any other person, the only thing giving away that they weren't, was their eyes, flashing in the dark. Chloe seemed to recognize them for what they were to, and gently pushed into me.

Another wave of anger passed through me, and not meaning to, I tightened my grip on her shoulders. "Werewolves." I whispered in her ear.

The two werewolves stopped a few yards away from us, enough to scare and block the exits, but not harm us. Yet. I remembered the others, my brothers, cornering me, their faces angry. Too many to fight, yelling about going on their-

I stopped that thought. Territory. I wanted to curse, but I held it in. If we were on their territory, we were in for a hell of a time.

I took a deep breath and kept my voice stead. Weakness would give me away for easy pray, and I had Chloe to look after too. "We're just passing through, if this is your territory-"

The blond one laughed, cutting me off. "Our territory? Did you hear that, Ramon? He's asking if this is our territory."

I don't remember asking anything. Saying that wouldn't help us, so I kept that thought to myself.

He's playing it dumb, like he doesn't think I know what they are. "I know you're werewolves and I know-" The dark haired one, Ramon cut me off.

"Werewolves? Did he say werewolves?" Playing it dumb again.

The blond one lifted a finger to his lips in an exaggerated "shhh!" and jerked his head at Chloe. Trying to scare her. But she held still, watching and listening, not drawing attention to herself by freaking out. I had too trust her more, she could handle a lot more then I gave her credit for.

"She knows." I said. This situation would be so much easier to handle if we were all able to talk openly on the subject, instead of them wasting time trying to scare the "Truth" of what they are into her.

A look of disappointment flashed through the blond's eyes, telling me I was right. It was gone just as fast as it arrived. Chloe probably hadn't even noticed it. Of course, she couldn't see in the dark like I can.

"Tsk-tsk. That's against the rules, pup. You don't go telling your girlfriends what you are, even the cute ones. Didn't your daddy teach you better than that? Who is your daddy, by the way?"

Giving away that I had no clue would just tell them that I didn't know as much as I should. Even if dad had taught me as much as he could, it was a long shot from being raised by a werewolf.

When I remained silent, Ramon spoke up. "He's a Cain."

The blond looked over me, looking for any signs that I could be related to a… Cain. This sparked my curiosity, but I kept my face blank. If they could tell who my biological father was by appearance, maybe I could learn something…

"Think so? I guess he could be." The blond said.

"If you've met more than one, Liam, you wouldn't be questioning. That"-he pointed at me-"is a Cain. Three things every Cain has in common. Big as a house. Ugly as a mud fence. Dumb as a brick."

Charming. I had heard enough jabs at my appearance to learn to ignore it. They just wanted to get a rise out of me, get me to lose my cool.

I _was_ surprised when Chloe spoke up. "Then he's not-" I shushed her. So far she had been fine, keeping quiet, the attention on the bigger threat, me.

But it was too late. Liam took a step closer, his gaze now on her. "Did you say something, cutie?"

His words sparked anger in me, but I pushed it down. I tried to bring the attention back to me, were I could handle it. "We're just passing through, if this is your territory, then I apologize-"

"Hear that, Ramon?" Liam said, cutting me off. Irritation sparked threw me at being interrupted, again, but I pushed it away, reminding myself it wouldn't help Chloe. "He apologizes. You have no clue whose territory you're on, do you?" he said as he took another step closer. Slowly advancing, coming to close.

Once again, I pushed back my irritation, finding it harder to each time. "No, I don't know you. If I should, then-"

"This is _Pack_ territory."

I shook my head. "No the Pack is in Syracuse-"

"You think they own one _city_? Their territory is New York _state_." Ramon said.

Shit. Shit, shit, _shit_. If they were telling the truth, we were in over our heads. I reminded myself that they had never been bothered by me before. But they had never _found_ me, with Dad always moving us around.

"You do know what the Pack does to trespassers, don't you, pup?" Liam said. "Your daddy must have shown you the pictures."

I returned his gaze, evenly. I wasn't going to fold under his taunting. Chloe glanced up at me. It would have been so much easier if she wasn't here. But she _was_, and it was my responsibility to get her out. I had let her come anyways. Why, _why_ had I let her come? Because I wanted her with me. Because she had stuck with me last time. Didn't scream, didn't run. And she was willing to come again. She has proven a friend to me, something I hadn't bothered with before. I could smell the sweat off her skin, but her heart beat was oddly normal. Totally trusting me. I felt myself relax a bit.

"The pictures?" Liam pressed. "Of the last guy who trespassed on Pack territory?"

When I didn't say anything, he continued. "Your daddy didn't like you much, did he? 'Cause if he did, he would have shown you those pictures, so you didn't make the mistake you're making right now. The last time a mutt got to close to Pack turf, they carved him up with a chain saw. Then they took photos, and they passed them out as a warning to the rest of us."

The last part was a dull roar in my ears. Liam had said "they". _They_ carved him, _they_ passed, rest of _us_. Not _we_, _they_. As much as his words came to a relief to me, they frightened Chloe. Her heart sped up, telling me she was struggling. I squeezed her shoulder, rubbing it with my thumb, telling her to stay calm.

They weren't part of the Pack. We went from bad, to awful to bad again. It was a step in the right direction. Kind of.

Now to leave. "No, I haven't seen them. But thanks for the warning. I'll-"

"Who _is_ your daddy? Zachary Cain? You're darker, but you've got his look. You're about the right age, too." Ramon said. What did he mean the right age? "And that might explain why he didn't raise you right." Huh?

"Him being dead and all," Liam said. "But if it was Zack, then you should _know_ to keep off Pack territory."

Dead. They were making fun of me now. "Should I?"

"Don't you know how your daddy died? Dumb ass decided to join an uprising against the Pack, right up there in Syracuse." He looked at Ramon. "Think they used the chain saw?"

That was enough of that. "If the Pack is so bad, why are you on their territory?" I hadn't meant to say it, but it was all I could think of to get them off the topic of torture.

"Maybe we're Pack." Liam said.

"Then you wouldn't be talking like you were, saying "their" territory, what "they" do."

Liam laughed. "Check this out. A Cain with brains. Must come from your momma."

"Do you want to know why we're here?" Ramon said. "A mission of mercy, and we're the ones praying for mercy. See, we hooked up with this kid from down under last year. We quickly found out why he'd left home."

"Man-eater." Liam said, searching our faces. I kept mine blank.

"M-man-eater?" Chloe said quietly. I was going to shush her again, but decided against it. If she talked to them, they wouldn't notice if I wasn't paying attention.

"It's a disgusting habit. Now hunting humans? Killing them?" he smiled, knowing it would scare her now. That smile made me want to attack him, but I couldn't. It would get us in trouble. I had to think of a plan. But I couldn't. Not with them mocking Chloe, scaring her.

"That's always good sport. But eating? Not my style. Well, unless you count that time in Mexico-"

"So if_ you're_ allowed on Pack territory, I'm sure they won't bother me. I'm not causing trouble." I hadn't meant to cut in, but the direction they were headed in was one I didn't want to go down. I'm sure Chloe felt the same way. Besides, there story wasn't making sense. If they weren't Pack, they didn't care if we we're on Pack territory, then why were we still here?

"Can I finish my story?" Ramon said. "So this Aussie, he's not very discreet about his habit. The Pack catches wind of it. Next thing you know, all three of us are on their hit list."

"The Aussie dude goes to ground," Liam continued, "leaving me and Ramon holding the bag. The Pack doesn't care if we're man-eaters or not. We've had some run-ins with them before so, as far as they're concerned, we've used up our free swings. Batter our. They already caught up with Ramon once. Luckily, he got away. Or most for him."

Lucky for him, not for us. Ramon pulled up his shirt. His side was pitted and puckered with healing scar tissue, the kind of thing you see in SFX demonstrations. I had never seen anything like that in my life. I expect Chloe to flinch or _something_, but she didn't. She just looked at it until he let his shirt fall again.

"So now you're heading up to Syracuse to talk to the Pack. Set them straight." She said calmly.

That's right. Or that was the plan. But it's Russian roulette, see? We throw ourselves at their mercy, and we may never stand up again. Then we caught an amazing break."

I didn't like where this was going. We had to leave. Now. With Chloe here, anything was going to be hard. There was no way I could take them both on with Chloe.

Chloe spoke up. "The break?" I hadn't even realized they had been waiting for us to say something.

"I had to take a piss. About two miles north of here. Pulled off the highway, got out of the car, and guess what I smelled."

I internally groaned. "Me."

"The answer to our prayers. A Cain?" Liam shook his head. "What did we do to get so lucky? The Pack hates Cains. Bunch of Neanderthals too stupid to keep out of trouble. If we hand them you, tell them _you_ were the one snacking on humans…"

Oh. _Oh_. That was it, I shifted, getting ready to bolt, planning on pulling Chloe with me.

"Thinking of leaving, pup? That would be rude. You bolt, we'll grab your girl, hold her until you decide to come back and hear me out."

I held still, not wanting them anywhere near Chloe. I wanted to lash out, tear them to pieces for even _suggesting_ that they might hurt Chloe. Panic washed over me. I had no plan, and Chloe was scared again, heart racing just as fast as mine.

I struggled to stay calm. I need Chloe to stay calm too, so I could get us out of this. I rubbed her shoulders again, whispering words of reassurance I'm sure she had given me when I was Changing.

"Sure, it'll be just fine. The Pack aren't complete monsters. This poor orphaned kid just screwed up. He'll never do it again. They'll understand. He's probably got a-" he glanced at Ramon. "Fifty-fifty?"

Ramon considered it and nodded.

"Fifty-fifty chance of surviving. And even if he doesn't, they'll make it quick. No chain saws for you."

That was reassuring. "Why are you telling us this?" Chloe asked. I had made up my mind. We were going to run at the first chance they gave us. All we had to do was keep a cool head, and wait. Keeping calm was becoming increasingly harder for me, although Chloe seemed to be fine.

"Good question, cutie. Why not just grab him, tie him up, toss him in our truck, and deliver him to the wolves up in Syracuse? Because the Alpha isn't stupid. If we throw him a kid who's screaming he didn't do it, he might listen. See, there's only one way this can work. If your boyfriend comes along voluntarily and confesses."

I snorted. That was a load of bull.

"You don't like that plan?"

I shot him a look, knowing I shouldn't let him get to me. But he was, and he knew it.

Liam sighed. "All right then. Option two it is. We kill you and have some fun with your girl."

No. Absolutely not. This was getting out of hand, and I was struggling to stay calm, pushing the side that want to attack aside. But it was simple what they were suggesting. I'd have to go, or they'd rape Chloe.

"I'll do the killing," Ramon said. "You can take the girl. She's a little young for me." I hated that. _Hated_ it, and I couldn't stop them from talking. It was like she wasn't standing in front of them, scared.

The look Liam gave her made me wanted to rip his throat out. I gripped her shoulders tighter, as if it could save her from his gaze. Rage filled me as I tried to get the image of her out of my head, being held down by him, screaming as he-

That was enough. "Leave her out of this." I said, trying to keep the growl out of my voice. Chloe was scared enough as it was.

"Never." Liam bared his teeth, a challenge. "I was almost hoping you'd say no. Sure I'd love a scapegoat to feed the Pack. But a little cutie like that who already knows what I am? That's… Sweet. He said, smiling. Mocking.

Chloe shrank back into me, finally breaking. When Liam stepped forward, a grabbed Chloe, pinning her to me. I hardly heard the growl snake up. I didn't care. They couldn't have her. She was _mine_. That last thought cut threw me like a knife. She was mine to watch over, and I hadn't done my job.

The thought of staying calm was long gone. I tried to stay calm, but each time he reached for Chloe, another part of me took over and I growled. It was the same feeling I had when I threw that kid with Simon, and the same I had with that girl attacking Chloe, but I didn't care.

"Check this out," Liam said. "I think the pup's got himself a mate. Isn't that the cutest thing?" he leaned towards me, voice lowering, but Chloe could still hear. "It won't work out. It never does. Why don't you just give her to me now, let me help you get over it. Painful but quick. It's the best way."

I was going to kill them. I moved Chloe behind me, out of the way. They laughed.

"I think he's saying no." Ramon said.

"Leave her out of this." I said, getting my composure back, thinking clearer.

Liam shook his head. "How can I do that? Look at her. So tiny and cute, big eyes all wide and scared." He leaned to look around me. I was furious again. I didn't need to be reminded of how scared Chloe was. "That hair doesn't do anything for her. I can still smell the dye. What color is it really? Blond, I bet. She looks like a blond."

I heard her fidget. That was it. I'd made up my mind. "If I go with you, she walks away, right?"

"_No._" I heard her whisper.

"Course she does." Liam said.

"_Derek._" She whispered.

I put my hand behind me, telling her to be quiet. I made my decision, and I was sticking with it.

"Here's the deal."

"Deal?" Liam laughed. "This isn't up for negotiation, pup."

"It is if you want my cooperation." I had them there. "I'll go with you, but the first thing you do is get her on a bus. After I've seen her leave safely, I'm all yours." The situation would be so much easier to handle with her gone. Then I could find a way out better, think clearer.

"Uh-huh." Liam rolled back on his heels. "Is your intelligence feeling a mite insulted, Ramon?"

"Sure is." He said, coming up next to Liam.

"You said you'd release her-"

"And we will." They said more, but I wasn't listening. There was nothing more to talk about.

I shot forward.

* * *

I hope you liked it. I was sick, so I decided I'd write this while I had the excuse to sit around and do nothing. Please Review. :}


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